''Strabomantis necerus'', also known as the Mindo robber frog or hornless groundfrog, is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

in the family

Strabomantidae The Strabomantidae, sometimes called cloud forest landfrogs, are a family of frogs native to South America. These frogs lack a free-living larval stage and hatch directly into miniature "froglets". This family includes '' Pristimantis'', the mo ...

. It is found on the lower Pacific slopes of the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

from

Cotopaxi Province Cotopaxi () is one of the provinces of Ecuador. The capital is Latacunga. The province contains the Cotopaxi volcano, an intermittent volcano with a height of . Cantons The province is divided into 7 cantons. The following table lists each ...

northward to

Carchi Province Carchi () is a province in Ecuador. The capital is Tulcán. The Carchi River rises on the slopes of Chiles volcano and forms the boundary between Colombia and Ecuador near Tulcan. Rumichaca Bridge is the most important land route between Colo ...

, Ecuador, and Valle del Cauca Department, Colombia. It is a rare frog inhabiting humid pre

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

, typically in the immediate vicinity of streams. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

caused by agriculture and logging;

agricultural pollution Agricultural pollution refers to biotic and abiotic byproducts of farming practices that result in contamination or degradation of the environment and surrounding ecosystems, and/or cause injury to humans and their economic interests. The po ...

is also a threat. ''Strabomantis necerus'' has not been seen in Ecuador since 1995 and might be extinct there. Colombian record is based on re-examining a series of museum specimens, where it had been mixed with '' Strabomantis bufoniformis''; the current status of that population is unknown.

References

External links

* necerus Amphibians of the Andes Amphibians of Ecuador Amphibians of Colombia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Amphibians described in 1975 {{Strabomantidae-stub